Basket construction

ABSTRACT

A basket for fruit and produce having corrugated board bottom and folded double thickness side and end walls in various sizes, such as peck and half-bushel, and having a plastic handle. The handle is formed of a flattened tubular plastic member such as extruded tubular polyethylene. The flattened handle preferably is generally oval in cross section and preferably has concave upper and lower walls and rounded edges in cross-section providing a double-thickness handle stiff enough to maintain its arched shape when stapled to the corrugated board basket side walls. The lower ends of the tubular plastic handle are each stapled by one or two staples to the outer layer only of the corrugated board side walls. The staples are engaged only with the outer layer of the flattened tubular handle member. An opening is formed at the outer corner between each basket side wall and the bottom wall midway between the ends for insertion of the anvil of a stapling tool exteriorly of the basket to telescope the anvil into an end of the tubular handle so that no clinched staple ends project to the interior of the basket.

United States Patent [151 3,700,160 Farrell [451 Oct. 24, 1972 BASKETCONSTRUCTION Primary Examiner-Joseph R. Leclair AssistantExaminerStephen Marcus [72] Inventor: John D. Farrell, Canton, OhioAttorney-John H. Bishop et al.

[73] Assignee: Massillon Container Co., Navarre, [57] ABSTRACT Oh1o Abasket for fruit and produce having corrugated board bottom and foldeddouble thickness side and [22] Filed: July 27,1971 end walls in varioussizes, such as peck and halfbushel, and having a plastic handle. Thehandle is [21] App], No; 166,393 formed of a flattened tubular plasticmember such as extruded tubular polyethylene. The flattened handlepreferably is generally oval in cross section and [52] US. Cl R,-l6/l25, 217/125, preferably has concave upper and lower walls and 51 ICl 3: rounded edges in cross-section providing a double- 1 i l thicknesshandle stiff enough to maintain its arched {58] held of search"229/34 5252 52 sha e when sta led to the corru ated board basket 229/52 AM'220/94 R' 217/125 190/58'R' p p g l50/l2 side walls. The lower ends ofthe tubular plastic handle are each stapled by one or two staples to theouter layer only of the corrugated board side walls. The sta- [56]References Cited ples are engaged only with the outer layer of the flat-Nl E STATES PATENTS tened tubular handle member. An opening is formed atthe outer corner between each basket side wall and 2,097,891 11/1937Munce A the bottom wall midway betweenthe ends for i 3'366306 1/1968Kotowlck "229/52 AL tion of the anvil of a stapling tool exteriorly ofthe 193L330 10/1933 Sherman "229/52 A basket to telescopethe anvil intoan end of the tubular BX'OOkS A handle so that no clinched Staple ends pj to the 2,938,656 5/1960 Bertram ..229/52 A interior of the basket2,082,254 6/1937 Miessler ..229/52 A 2,632,595 3/1953 Finkbone ..229/52A 9 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PATENTEDBBT 24 m2 3.700.160

sum 1 0F 3 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS JOHN D. FARRELL PATENTED um 24 I972 SHEET2 UF 3 INVENTOR JOHN D. FARRELL 9W 8( ATTORNEYS BASKET CONSTRUCTIONBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The inventionrelates to baskets used for harvesting, handling, storing, shipping anddisplaying fruit and food products, such as tomatoes, peaches, etc. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to a corrugated board basket havinga plastic handle.

2. Description of the Prior Art Traditionally, baskets in various sizesfor handling food products have been formed of woven shaved wood stripsand arched wooden handles are stapled to the baskets. Baskets also havebeen formed from folded corrugated board having a single thicknessbottom wall and double thickness interlocked side and end walls. Theends of a wooden handle similar to those used with woven wood baskets,are inserted through openings at the tops of the side walls midwaythereof. The ends are stapled tothe double thickness side walls near theinner corners between the lower side and bottom walls of the basket. Theclinched staple ends are exposed at the inner surfaces of the basket. I

The wooden handles for both wooden and corrugated board baskets alwayshave been objectionable since they frequently split resulting insplinters that can injure the hands of anyone lifting or carrying thebaskets. Suchwooden handles also are subject to crossfracture whenstruck during handling or when suddenly lifting a heavy basket load.Attempts have been made to eliminate these undesirable splintering andfracturing difficulties by using a single-thickness plastic materialstrip having the approximate width and thickness of wooden handles.

Such plastic strip handles, however, also involve difficulties. When theplastic material is thick and stiff enough to maintain its normal archedshape it is quite difficult to staple the ends thereof to the basketside walls. If the plastic handle strip is thin enough and soft enoughto permit easy stapling, then the handle is too limp, flimsy or.flexible, and it is difficult to control the basket load.

The flexibility difficulty is particularly troublesome, for example,when using baskets for harvesting food products, such as tomatoes. Fourbaskets usually are carried by the worker, in field harvesting, two ineach hand. The handles of two baskets are grasped between the third andfourth fingers of each hand. Splintering wooden handles have injured theworkers hands under such conditions. Also, soft flexible plastic handleshave caused loaded baskets to wobble and spill.

Furthermore, stapling the handles, both wooden and plastic, to baskets,either wooden or corrugated board, heretofore has involved driving andclinching the staples, one or two in number, entirely through the basketside walls and entirely through the end portions of the handles. Theclinched ends of the staples are exposed along the inner surfaces of thebasket. These clinched staple ends can damage fruit or vegetables orother food products placed, stored or carried in the baskets.

Although single-thickness plastic strip basket handles have eliminatedthe splintering and fracturing difficulties characteristic of woodenhandles, the edges of stiff single-thickness plastic strip materialnormally are sharper than desirable for comfort in carrying severalbaskets at once by several fingers of one hand, particularly when theload in the basket may be heavy and shifting.

SUMMARY OF'THE INVENTION Objectives of the invention include providing anew basket handle construction which eliminates the splintering' andfracturing difficulties heretofore encountered with-food product basketshaving wooden handles; providing a new basket handle construction whicheliminates the difficulties heretofore encountered with single thicknessstrip plastic handles thick and stiff enough to maintain arched handleshape or thin and soft enough to permit easy stapling; providing a newbasket handle construction whicheliminates the discomfort occasioned bysharp edges of stiff single,- thickness plastic handles; providing a newhandle construction which eliminates clinched staple ends at the insidesurfaces of basket side walls where fruit or produce contained in thebaskets can be damaged by the staple ends; providing a new plastichandle construction for produce baskets formed of flattened tubularplastic material, preferably generally .oval in cross section, andhaving concave upper and lower walls and rounded edges in cross-section;providing a new produce basket flattened tubular plastic handleconstruction having stiffness sufficient to maintain an arched handleshape when secured to basket side walls; providing a new basketconstruction in which the outer layer only of the lower end of aflattened tubular plastic handle member is stapled to the outer layeronly of a double-thickness corrugated board basket side wall toeliminate the presence of clinched staple ends at the inner surfaces ofthe basket side walls; providing a new basket construction which assistsin the ready assembly of a flattened tubular plastic handle member withdou- This condition becomes more aggravated whenble-thickness corrugatedboard basket side walls; providing a new basket construction in whichstapling tools may be used exteriorly of the basket walls to staple thebasket handle and side walls together; providing a new produce basketconstruction which is inexpensive to manufacture and assemble, whicheliminates the enumerated difficulties heretofore encountered, whichachieves the indicated objectives simply, effectively and inexpensively,and which solves problems that long have existed in the produce and foodproducts basket field.

These objectives and advantages are obtained by the basket construction,the general nature of which may be stated as including a corrugatedboard basket having double-thickness side walls, and a plastic handlefor the basket, the handle comprising a'generally flattened tubularmember molded or extruded to tubular shape preferably from low-densitynatural polyethylene, lowdensity vinyl, or low-density EVA plasticmaterial; the flattened tubular member being generally oval withpreferably concave upper and lower walls and rounded edges in crosssection, the flattened tubular concaved oval shape providing strengthand stiffness to maintain an arched and laterally stiff handle when thehandle is openings permitting access exteriorly of the basket of astapling tool to the open tubular handle ends for stapling the handleand side walls together; and staple means engaging the outer layers onlyof the side walls and tubular handle member ends, whereby the clinchedends of the staple means are located within the tubular handle walls.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 isa perspective view of the newbasket construction;

FIG. 2 is a plan' view of a' corrugated board blank which may be foldedto form the bottom, side and end walls of a basket;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the plastic handle component of the basketshown in FIG. 1, on the same scale as FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to a portion of FIG. 1 showing initialoperations in assemblinga plastic handle component with a foldedcorrugated board'basket;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to a portion of FIG. .4 illustrating a handstapling tool being inserted into one lower end of a tubular plastichandle for stapling the handle to a basket;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing the stapling tool inposition for driving a staple through the outer layers only of acorrugated board basket side wall and a lower end of a tubular plastichandle;

FIG. 7 is a greatly enlarged sectional view taken on the line 7-7, FIG.1;

FIG. 8 is a similar enlarged sectional view taken on the line 8-8, FIG.1; i

FIG. 9 is a similar enlarged sectional view taken on the line 9-9, FIG.6;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary view, with parts broken away, looking in thedirection of the arrows l0l0, FIG. 9; and- FIG. 1 l is a fragmentarysectional view looking in the direction of the arrows l11l, FIG. 9.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A typical corrugated boardbasket is shown generally at 1. The basket walls may be formed from thecorrugated board blank indicated generally at 2 in FIG. 2 having slits3, side wall fold lines 4 and 5, end wall fold lines 6, end flap foldlines 7, side flap fold lines 8, and enlarged slots 9. The fold lines,slits and slots form bottom wall panel 10, outer side wall panels 11,inner side wall panels 12, end wall panels 13, end wall flaps 14 andside wall flaps 15. The outer edges of panels 12 are formed with ears 16adapted to be inserted in slots 17 when the blank 2 is folded to formthe basket shown in FIG. 1.

An opening 18 is formed along each fold line 5 between the side panels11 and 12 intermediate the ends of the basket, and the ends of handleshown generally at 19 are inserted through these openings whenassembling the handle to basket 1. The blank 2 and the formed or foldedcorrugated board basket 1 as thus far described comprise a usual foldedcorrugated board basket construction. Heretofore either a wooden or asingle-thickness plastic handle has been assembled with such basket 1and stapled entirely through the basket side walls and the lower ends ofthe handle.

The basket blank 2 is modified in accordance with the invention toprovide openings 20 along the fold lines 4 aligned with and spaced belowthe openings 18 when the basket is in folded condition as shown in FIG.1.

The improved plastic handle member 19 is shown generally as a straightlength of tubular plastic material in FIG. 3, and is shown quiteenlarged in FIGS. 7 to 1 l. The handle 19 comprises a flattened tubularmember formed. of plastic material and has a generally oval crosssection as indicated in FIGS. 8 and 11 with nor-v mally somewhatconcaved side .walls 21 and curved edges 22. Handle 19 preferably ismade of a low-densi-. ty natural polythylene plastic material, orlow-density vinyl plastic material, or low-density EVA plastic materialand, may be either molded or extruded to the tubular flattened concavedshape shown;

Normally plastic handle member 19 extends with a straight axis as shownin FIG. 3, and the concaved oval shape provides some stiffness,particularly laterally, along the long oval cross-sectional axis so thatwhen the handle 19 is assembled as shown in FIG. 1, it will maintain thearch shape and is extremely stiff laterally again'st'bending towardeither basket end wall.

Handle member 19 is illustrated in FIG. 4 in dot-dash lines held in ahand and bent for assembly with basket 1. The slot 18, as best shown inFIGS. 4 and 7, formed along the fold line 5, extends farther at 18a fromthe fold line 5 along the inner side panel 12 than along the outer sidepanel 11'. This location of slot 18 provides a wall portion 11a adjacentthe slot 18 opposite the slot portion 18a (FIG. 7) which may be engagedby one end of the handle member 19 in inserting such end through theslot 18 and down the side wall between the outer and inner panels 11 and12. The handle 19 after insertion of its end 19a between side panels 11and 12 is illustrated in full lines in FIG. 4 with the inserted portionshown in dotted lines. After insertion of said one handle end 19a asshown in FIG. 4, the other handle end 19b may be inserted through theother slot 18 and between the outer and inner panels 11 and 12 of theother basket side wall to assume the positions shown in FIGS. 1, 5 and6.

Following the insertion assembly of handle 19 to the position shown inFIGS. 5, 6, 9 and 10, a stapling tool may be used to staple handle 19 tobasket 1. A typical stapling tool 23 may be used for stapling. The toolanvil 24 is inserted as illustrated in FIGS. 5, 6, 9 and 10 through aslot 20 and telescopes into the open lower end 19a or 19b of the handlemember 19. One or more staples may be driven, two being shown at 25 inFIGS. 1 and 7. The tool 23 is moved to the desired positions for drivingtwo staples.

The staples 25 are driven through and secure together the outer sidewall panel 11 and the outer flattened tubular wall layer 19c of an end19a or 19b of the handle member 19, as best shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. Theclinched ends 26 of the staples 25 are located within the tubular ends19a and 19b of the handle member 19 and do not project through the innerbasket side wall panels 12. Thus, there are no metal staple ends presentat the inner surface of basket 1 which if present could damage fruit,vegetables, or other produce placed, stored or carried in basket 1.

Although a hand stapling tool 23 is illustrated, machine staplers alsomay be used. Ordinarily the basket blanks 2 are shipped in the flat togreenhouses, produce growers, etc. and are folded to basket shape andhandles stapled thereto by produce harvesting personnel prior to theirgoing into the fields to harvest the food products which are gathered inbaskets. When a wooden slat handle is assembled with a basket, it mustbe bent to arch shape for assembly. Splintering or splitting of thewooden handles sometimes occurs at this time which can injure theworker. This prior difficulty is eliminated by the new construction.

Heretofore, the stapling operations during basket assembly by a workerat a greenhouse or in the fields normally has involved use of staplingmachines having anvils that are inserted into the formed basket alongthe inside surfaces of the inner side wall panels. This is a moredifficult assembly operation than applying a stapling tool, whether. ofhand or machine type, exteriorly of the basket to staple handles tobaskets.

An important aspect of the invention is the flattened shape of thetubular plastic handle member 19 .to form a generally oval cross sectionwith concave side walls 21 and rounded comers 22. The flattened shapeprovides lateral stiffness or rigidity against bending endwise of thebasket, and at the same time provides combined flexibility and stiffnesssufficient to maintain the arch handle form as shown in FIG. 1 Theconcave wall portions when the handle is bent to arch shape alsoprevents kinking of the plastic material which otherwise could result inundesirable distortion of the handle.

The manufacture of the handle member 19 from lowdensity plasticmaterials such as those described permits relatively thin tubularplastic walls to be used which do not offer undesirable resistance tostapling. Furthermore, the rounded edges 22 eliminate the sharper edgesof prior wooden or single-thickness plastic strip handles which can cutinto a workers hands between fingers when several loaded baskets areheld in one hand with the handles gripped between two fingers.

In addition, the absence of any portions of any staples at the insidesurfaces of the basket side walls avoides damage to fruit, or otherproduce contained within the basket, resulting from the'produce rubbingagainst or being abraded by metal staple members.

The relocation of the openings 18 along the fold lines 5 provides wallportions 11a which assist in assembling the handles to the basket.Furthermore, the openings 20 at the bottom comers of the basket permitinsertion of the stapling tool anvil into the open ends of the tubularhandle member.

The basket construction illustrated and described may have any usualsize, such as peck and half-bushel sizes, but the baskets may be largeror smaller and still incorporate the new concepts of the invention.

Moreover, although maximum benefits and advantages of the invention areobtained when the improved tubular oval handle construction is stapledat its ends to the outside panel only of corrugated board basket sidewalls, the oval tubular plastic handle may have the outside layer of theends of the handle member stapled or otherwise secured to woven woodstrip baskets to eliminate the splintering and projecting stapledifficulties present with wooden baskets having wooden handles.

Accordingly, the improved basket construction eliminates wooden handlesand the splintering, breaking or splitting thereof, and also eliminatessharp handle edges heretofore present in wooden and singlethicknessplastic strip basket handles; provides an improved tubular plastichandle construction which may be made of plastic soft enough to permiteasy stapling, but which at the same time, because of flattened ovalcross-sectional shape, has stiffness to maintain an assembled arch shapeenabling load control when holding several loaded baskets in one hand;provides a construction which eliminates metal staple portions at innerbasket surfaces; provides a construction which may be readily assembledand which is inexpensive to manufacture; and provides a constructionwhich achieves the objectives and solves problems that have long existedin the art.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for'brevity,clearness-and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to beimplied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art because suchterms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadlyconstrued.

Moreover, the description and illustration of the invention is by way ofexample and the scope of the invention is not limited to the exactdetails shown or described since the features of the invention may beapplied to differently sized and differently constructed baskets.

Having now described the features, discoveries and principles of theinvention, the manner in which the improved baskets are made, thecharacteristics of the new construction, and the advantageous, new anduseful results obtained; the new and useful structures, devices,elements, arrangements, parts, combinations and subcombinations are setforth in the appended claims.

Iclaim:

l. Basket construction including side, end and bottom walls forming abasket container, and a plastic handle member for the container; thehandle member comprising a generally flattened tubular member formed ofplastic material and having a generally oval cross section with concaveinner and outer walls and rounded edges, and staple means connecting thelower ends of the handle member to the container side walls; and thestaple means engaging the side walls outside the handle and engaging theouter wall only of the handle member, whereby the clinched ends of thestaple means are located within the tubular handle member walls.

2. Basket construction as defined in claim 1 in which the container isformed of corrugated board having double-thickness side walls, in whichthe double thickness side walls comprise inner and outer panels, inwhich the ends of the handle member extend between the inner and outerside wall panels, and in which the staple means engage the outer sidewall panel and the outer handle wall only.

- 3. Basket construction as defined in claim 2 in which the plasticmaterial is selected from the class consisting of low-density naturalpolyethylene, vinyl, and EVA plastic material.

4. Basket construction as defined in claim 2 in which openings areformed along the fold lines at the top edges of the basket side wallsbetween the inner and outer panels intermediate the basket ends, and inwhich the lower ends of the tubular handle member extend through saidopenings and between the inner and outer side wall panels.

5. Basket construction as defined in claim 4 in which openings areformed in the basket corners along the fold lines between the bottomwall and side walls aligned with and spaced below said top edgeopenings, and in which said corner openings provide access to the lowerends of the handle member for staple tool insertion into the lowertubular member ends for stapling the handle member to the outer sidewall panels.

6.'Basket construction as defined in claim 4 in which the openings atthe top edges of the side walls have deflecting wall portions in theouter panels opposite the openings to assist insertion of handle memberends into and through the openings and between the side wall panels.

7. Basket construction including a corrugated board basket having side,end and bottom walls, and a plastic handle member for the basket; thehandle member comprising a generally flattened tubular member formed ofplastic material and having inner and outer walls with rounded edges incross section; staple means connecting the lower ends of the handlemember to the basket side walls; and the staple means engaging the sidewalls outside the handle and engaging the outer wall only of the handlemember, whereby the clinched ends of the staple means are located withinthe tubular I handle end walls.

8. Basket construction including a corrugated board basket having side,end and bottom walls, and a plastic handle member for the basket; thehandle member comprising a generally flattened tubular member formed ofplastic material and having concave inner and outer walls with roundededges in cross section; staple means connecting the lower ends of thehandle member to the basket side walls; and the staple means engagingthe side walls outside the handle and engaging the outer wall only ofthe handle member, whereby the clinched ends of the staple means arelocated within the tubular handle end walls.

9. Basket construction including a corrugated board basket having endand bottom walls and double thickness side walls, and a plastic handlemember for the basket; the handle member comprising a generallyflattened tubular member formed of plastic material and having inner andouter walls with rounded edges in cross section; the double thicknessside walls comprising inner and outer panels; the ends of the handlemember extending between the inner and outer side wall panels; andstaple means connecting the outer side wall panels and the lower ends ofthe outer handle wall, whereby the clinched ends of the staple means arelocated within the tubular handle end walls.

1. Basket construction including side, end and bottom walls forming abasket container, and a plastic handle member for the container; thehandle member comprising a generally flattened tubular member formed ofplastic material and having a generally oval cross section with concaveinner and outer walls and rounded edges, and staple means connecting thelower ends of the handle member to the container side walls; and thestaple means engaging the side walls outside the handle and engaging theouter wall only of the handle member, whereby the clinched ends of thestaple means are located within the tubular handle member walls. 2.Basket construction as defined in claim 1 in which the container isformed of corrugated board having double-thickness side walls, in whichthe double-thickness side walls comprise inner and outer panels, inwhich the ends of the handle member extend between the inner and outerside wall panels, and in which the staple means engage the outer sidewall panel and the outer handle wall only.
 3. Basket construction asdefined in claim 2 in which the plastic material is selected from theclass consisting of low-density natural polyethylene, vinyl, and EVAplastic material.
 4. Basket construction as defined in claim 2 in whichopenings are formed along the fold lines at the top edges of the basketside walls between the inner and outer panels intermediate the basketends, and in which the lower ends of the tubular handle member extendthrough said openings and between the inner and outer side wall panels.5. Basket construction as defined in claim 4 in which openings areformed in the basket corners along the fold lines between the bottomwall and side walls aligned with and spaced below said top edgeopenings, and in which said corner openings provide access to the lowerends of the handle member for staple tool insertion into the lowertubular member ends for stapling the handle member to the outer sidewall panels.
 6. Basket construction as defined in claim 4 in which theopenings at the top edges of the side walls have deflecting wallportions in the outer panels opposite the openings to assist insertionof handle member ends into and through the openings and between the sidewall panels.
 7. Basket construction including a corrugated board baskethaving side, end and bottom walls, and a plastic handle member for thebasket; the handle member comprising a generally flattened tubularmember formed of plastic material and having inner and outer walls withrounded edges in cross section; staple means connecting the lower endsof the handle member to the basket side walls; and the staple meansengaging the side walls outside the handle and engaging the outer wallonly of the handle member, whereby the clinched ends of the staple meansare located within the tubular handle end walls.
 8. Basket constructionincluding a corrugated board basket having side, end and bottom walls,and a plastic handle member for the basket; the handle member comprisinga generally flattened tubular member formed of plastic material andhaving concave inner and outer walls with rounded edges in crosssection; staple means connecting the lower ends of the handle member tothe basket side walls; and the staple means engaging the side wallsoutside the handle and engaging the outer wall only of the handlemember, whereby the clinched ends of the staple means are Located withinthe tubular handle end walls.
 9. Basket construction including acorrugated board basket having end and bottom walls and double thicknessside walls, and a plastic handle member for the basket; the handlemember comprising a generally flattened tubular member formed of plasticmaterial and having inner and outer walls with rounded edges in crosssection; the double thickness side walls comprising inner and outerpanels; the ends of the handle member extending between the inner andouter side wall panels; and staple means connecting the outer side wallpanels and the lower ends of the outer handle wall, whereby the clinchedends of the staple means are located within the tubular handle endwalls.